Print I made for Print Day in May: Monotype of a Mexican Red-kneed Tarantula.

These spiders are so interesting! They are also gorgeous! When I was a docent at the local zoo, this was one of my favorite animals to share with people.

The Mexican Red-kneed Tarantula is found in the Pacific and Western Mexico, in scrublands and forests. Even though they have large "fangs", their bite is pretty harmless to people (unless you have an allergic reaction). You shouldn't handle them with bare hands though, because the hairs on their abdomens can be irritating to skin. In fact, they use their legs to fling them at predators to irritate eyes, skin, etc.

The females tend to long outlive the males; if she is not receptive to his mating tactics she will see him as a food source, and even after mating she may kill him. The males typically live to about 5 years old, and the females up 30. They reach about 6 inches in leg span when fully grown, which takes about ten years!